Last week, I was waiting in a drive-through line for a COVID-19 test with my daughter. There were hundreds of cars, and the time from entrance to test was estimated at two hours.
On our way through the queue, I saw a sign over a different, smaller line — one announcing where vaccines would be administered. Some cars headed in that direction. I wished we were in the vaccine lane instead, but it’s not yet our turn. I’m hoping will be soon, for all of us.
My husband, who is a front-line health care worker, just got his second dose of the vaccine. My 90-year-old mother just got her first. I breathed a huge sigh of relief with each of these, knowing that they are the most vulnerable in our world, and though nothing’s certain, they are a little more protected.
Though there are still many unknowns, I’m hopeful about this vaccine – a glimmer in some dark months. But the rollout is so vast and complicated, and in the meantime, people are still getting sick. I’m hoping we can be patient in our lanes, wearing our masks, and in some cases, advocating for someone who needs help getting access to a vaccine.
In this week’s show, we talk with the people behind the scenes who are tracking the vaccines, including Ilan Kedan and Christina Lombardi, husband and wife — a cardiologist and an epidemiologist — who volunteered for two different vaccine trials. Sarah Zhang, who with her colleagues at The Atlantic have been writing some of the most thoughtful stories about the pandemic over the past year, sets the stage for the vaccine rollout. Eula Biss tells us about being a parent and thinking philosophically about immunizations. And Adam Kucharski, a mathematician and epidemiologist, leads us through what vaccines and misinformation have in common.
If you like this show, share it with a friend. And wherever you are in the vaccine line, I hope you’re healthy and safe.